September 8, 2016 -- North Shore Board of Education trustees met this past August with Leadership Advantage, the search firm hired to assist the district in finding a replacement for Superintendent Dr. Edward Melnick when he retires at the end of this school year, to develop timelines and processes to ensure the goal of having a successful candidate in place by Spring 2017. Two days of meetings for the community and Leadership Advantage have been scheduled to create the profile of the new superintendent. The evenings of Monday, September 19th, and Thursday, September 29th, have been planned for general public meetings with Leadership Advantage and are open to all parents and residents.

Both meetings will be held in the North Shore High School Theatre from 7:30 - 9:30 PM. Additionally, a survey will also be available on the district website at www.northshoreschools.org to provide another opportunity for community input.

Leadership Advantage was chosen from five superintendent search firms that made presentations and were interviewed at public board meetings during the months of February and March 2016.

President Antoinette (Toni) Labbate stated, “Leadership Advantage clearly understood the mission of our unique, high performing school district and comprehended the essential specifications that were initially outlined by the board. Additionally, Leadership Advantage pledged to work with all of our constituents and agreed to assist the board throughout the entire search process until an exceptional candidate is chosen.”

The North Shore Board of Education will be working closely with the Leadership Advantage team consisting of Dr. Michael Osnato, Dr. Frank Auriemma, and Dr. Michael Kuchar. All three have extensive experience in identifying and training effective school leaders. In addition, they each have had successful careers as superintendents and also teach at universities. BOE Vice President Sara Jones said, “Each brings extensive experience to the search for a high quality, motivated individual to take over the direction of our very special school district.”

President Labbate stated, “Our top priority this year will be finding an exceptional school superintendent who will join our team of outstanding employees as we work together to continue providing a world-class education for every student in all five of our schools.” Trustee and former board president, Dr. Herman Berliner reiterated, “Finding a new superintendent is one of the most important responsibilities of the Board of Education and we take this search very seriously.”

The Board of Education values the community's input in defining what we need in the district's next educational leader. Throughout this comprehensive process, the Board of Education will continue to keep the community updated as they move forward with this important endeavor. For information and updates, please visit the North Shore Schools website at www.northshoreschools.org​Story submitted by the North Shore School District.